Red Sky in Morning
by Rat
Summary: JackAna, WillElizabeth. Ana confesses her feelings to Jack believing that he is injured and dying. When she discovers he has been manipulating the situation to his own ends, will he lose her? Story is finished now with Chapter Ten.
1. Red Sky

This story takes off from where the other one left off but you don't have to have read or enjoyed the other one to read and hopefully enjoy this one.  Completely different stuff here, mate!

I have discovered that speed posting isn't such a good thing for my writing, and so it will take somewhat longer between chapters, at least a few days while I check what I've done and try to make it honest.  

**_Ten is an end, and also a beginning.  Perhaps it is going beyond what is needed for completion and perhaps leading to destruction._**

**Ten Days, an epilogue/prologue.    **

Time heals, but memory is like an itch; the more you scratch at it the more irritating it becomes.  You may not even remember it's there at first but then something, a smell, a touch, a trifle, something touches that spot reserved for that special itch and reminds you of it all over again.  

Ana Maria stood on the deck of the Black Pearl with some very itchy thoughts.  

"I didn't expect you to stay."  

The words came without warning from just behind her left ear.  His breath felt warm against the side of her neck and sent shivers running along her spine; Ana Maria felt hard pressed not to lean into the body standing directly behind her.  "Don't you sleep?"

"Not if I can help it."  

Under the cover of night, Ana Maria felt safe talking like this.  This way she did not have to avoid looking Jack in they eye for fear that he might see something there that she preferred stay hidden.  He would try to help her if he knew how, and so she guarded her emotions to the point of denying their existence all together.  

"It's not like I have anywhere else to be."

He didn't answer, instead he stood beside her and leaned back against the railing and offered her some of his rum.  She accepted and took the bottle. 

"I owe you a ship."  He leaned backwards far enough that Ana Maria worried he might fall over, and he stared up at the stars.  "We'll do a little sightseeing in Port Royal after dropping off our passengers."

He referred to Will and Elizabeth currently sleeping in Jack's cabin.  After watching the rest of the Crooked Leg Tavern burn prettily to the ground in Passion's Cove and offering nothing in the way of explanations, Jack insisted on taking them back to Port Royal.  As Ana recalled, the discussion went something like, "It's cramped, but the two of you should find it roomy enough." After which the young lovers looked at each other far too timidly and needed further encouragement to seclude themselves in the only private area of the ship.  

What more encouragement they needed to actually get them down there, Ana didn't know, but she did know that Jack supplied the cabin with plenty of rum before shutting them in.  This apparently was his way of saying thank-you.

It didn't appear to bother Jack to lose his cabin for the night; he barely slept there anyhow.  Too closed in and stuffy, he called it.  Ana didn't doubt it, most sailors she knew of slept on the deck of their ships when weather allowed.  

So far there'd been not a peep or groan or anything remotely interesting coming from Jack's cabin turned honeymoon suite.  Kind of disappointing actually.  Not that Ana wanted to listen to that sort of thing, she just felt kind of sorry for the kids.  They seemed to love each other in some strangely tortured innocent teenager way, but when was the last time she saw something like that make a lasting effect?  Or rather a lasting happy effect?  

By her own way of thinking they should have just gotten to whole tension thing out of the way at the beginning.  It would be all the easier to go on from there once their heads were cleared of a little of that raging lust…

She felt Jack shift slightly as a star sped across the sky.  

Okay, this was a different thing all together.  She and Jack had none of that kind of tension.  (She could smell him when he stood this close, the same scent she identified with the sea after leaving behind the shore line, a salty heady smell that…)  Ana moved sideways a step away from where Jack teetered precariously over the railing.  She and Jack were older and more experienced; they knew enough of what came after the first few exciting moments to know better then to try going there together.  Though the beginning may seem sweet, it was sure to turn sour with time.  

"Once we find something suitable to your tastes, then we can go about the fun part of…" Jack's voice drifted off without finishing the sentence.  "Aye, there we go.  Do you hear that?"  

Ana listened, and she heard nothing over the waves against the ship at first, but then… there.  A rhythmic creaking of planks. 

"I was beginning to wonder if the boy may be a eunuch after all."  

**the morning after**

As the sun peeked warily over the horizon and she assumed everyone else remained sleeping, Elizabeth sat on deck and stared out over the water.  Who could she possibly hope to talk to here?  For that matter, who could she speak to at home?  Her father? (hahahaha)  Not blood likely, and it wasn't like her life was brimming over with female friends.  This wasn't even one of those things she could tell a friend even if she did have one she felt close enough to tell things too.  

She made love with Will and they fell asleep in each other's arms.  Last night everything felt so unreal that she didn't think about consequences.  She had sex on a pirate ship, in a pirate captain's bed!  That thought hadn't occurred to her last night either.  Jacks bed, god only knows how many times Jack did… it… with some strumpet on that very same bed.  Not that it was much of a bed, more like a padded mat laid over a wood shelf, but the purpose remained the same.  

Last night she could only imagine a glorious life ahead of her, a happy fairy tale life of a loving husband and babies, now in the grimly reasonable light of coming day she felt like jumping off the plank.  

Ana watched the girl and couldn't help but feel sorry for her.  Ah, to be so young and stupid again.  She knelt beside the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Jack wanted me to let you know, we're taking a slight detour."

"Why?"

"Do you see the change in the water? And the sky at the horizen?"

"It's red."  

"There is a saying: "Red sky at night, sailor's delight; Red sky in morning, sailors take warning". We have a storm coming, and there's not going to be enough time to take you back to Port Royal."

_As usual, here is my request for reviews.  _

_-Rat._


	2. The Storm

**Chapter Two, The Storm**

"We have a storm coming, and there's not going to be enough time to take you back to Port Royal."

"Where then are we going?" Elizabeth asked.

Ana turned her eyes back towards the ill boding sky and hoped the uncertainty in her voice would stay hidden. "The Captain knows of a safe harbour." 

"Where?"

"It doesn't have a name, not any more than the name of the family living there." She explained. "It shouldn't take long for the storm to pass us by."

"What kind of storm are we talking about?"

Ana shrugged. "Who can know?"

"What does Jack think?"

"What Jack thinks is beyond what the rest of us can never comprehend." Ana couldn't hide the frustration in her voice. There were other bays in which they could shield themselves from the storm and it made no sense to her to set anchor where they weren't welcome. 

The cabin door opened and Will climbed up on deck, and prompted a retelling of the conversation thus far. "We've been through storms before, what's so different this time?"

Jack sauntered up and eyed the three of them suspiciously enough that Ana felt goose bumps rise on her back. "One: We're close to shore and if the wind turns I don't want to break the Pearl's keel on the reef. Two: avoiding that requires either finding a bay to weather the storm, or sailing right into it." He stared straight at Ana as though Elizabeth and Will weren't even there. 

Ana opened her mouth to argue but Jack bounded forward and held a finger to her lips. Now he turned to his young guests. "What the lovely Ana Maria would like to ask is, why this bay?" Ana batted his hand away with her fist and he answered her with an irritating gold-toothed smile. "Why not? We're here, they bay is here, might as well take advantage of the opportunities at our disposal." For a moment he turned back and met Ana's accusing glare. 

Will watched the growing tension between the two and felt distinctly uncomfortable. "I need to get back to my shop."

"And in one piece, of course." Jack added. "You see Will, you're young but I thought ye might have figured this out by now, land has a tendency to remain in one place. Well, aside from earthquakes, hurricanes, and fire, and you can never really forecast when one of those will take place, unless of course if you set it on your own, which you can't do with earthquakes and hurricanes and we aren't expecting one of those anyhow. So other than some fool thinking it profitable enough, which it isn't, to burn down a blacksmith shop my guess is it'll still be there when ye return." 

"What's its name?" Elizabeth pressed.

"What's whose name?" Jack asked. 

"Of the bay we'll be hiding in." 

"Not hiding, luv, taking refuge."

"But who lives there?" 

"No one." His eyes yet again shifted towards Ana in a silent warning. "No one of interest." 

The crew spent the morning checking and reinforcing the ties securing the cargo in place. Everything on deck either got tied down or moved to a more stable location in the bulkhead. Elizabeth watched the sailors and Will working to prepare the ship for what ever the storm might bring and felt somewhat useless in the midst of activity. Ana did as much work as any of the men, and yet when Elizabeth offered to help the suggestions went more along the lines of staying out of the way. In the end, she simply watched the storm as it drew ever closer. The winds picked up and low dark clouds obliterated most of the light with lightning flashing intermittently in the distance. Elizabeth worried they might not reach the bay in time. 

When the rain came, Elizabeth stared at the coming swath with unfeigned interest as it rolled through the water advancing on the ship with incredible speed. One second she felt only the slight mist of humidity and then a steady downpour enveloped everything at once. The sea turned grey and frothy under it's onslaught and…

"Time to get below where's it's dry, missy." 

A hand fastened around her arm and pulled her towards the Captain's cabin. Elizabeth struggled and managed to twist out of the grip easily enough. She turned towards Gibbs and practically growled at him. "Don't you dare tell me what to do!"

He back off as though worried she may attack. "Just following orders." He cleared his throat and looked around for reinforcements but found no one willing to acknowledge his plight. "The Captain told me to get you someplace dry." 

The Captain currently stood near the prow, staring intently into the distance. Where only minutes before everyone could easily see the faint outline of land, now the thick curtain of rain masked everything lying beyond and the approaching darkness of night only diminished visibility further. She stomped across the deck towards Jack, but before she could say anything, he turned to her and grinned. 

Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. The pirate still looked more than a little haggard from whatever ordeal took place in Passion's Cove. Neither she nor Will learned the entire truth of that story, but from what they gathered, Jack had been poisoned and was still dealing with the aftermath of the sickness it caused. Initially she intended to tell him off for presuming that she needed to be coddled, and now? She felt guilty for adding to the strain already placed on him by the hazardous weather. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" 

The grin faltered briefly at the unexpected turn of tempers, but resurfaced as his eyes darted quickly down to her chest then back to Gibbs. "You're distracting my crew Miss Swann." 

She looked down and felt a rush of nausea roll through her stomach. The men's clothing she wore covered her adequately while dry, but now the white cotton shirt somehow changed colour from beige to nearly transparent as it clung to the outline of her breasts. Gibbs stood closest and so she turned on him.

"Give me your vest." 

He glanced at his captain instead, but Jack merely nodded. "It would be in your best interest to listen to the girl, mate.  She might tear it right off your back if you don't." Gibbs complied and handed her his dark green vest, which Elizabeth quickly pulled on and tied closed. By the time she looked back up, Jack already had his attention concentrated back out to the water. 

"What are you looking for?" She stepped up beside him and looked in the same direction. 

"That." He answered finally and pointed out towards a dim light barely visible through the rain. He made his way back to the quarterdeck to take the helm and adjusted the ship in the direction of the newfound light. Gibbs took the opportunity to make himself useful elsewhere; he'd tried his best to get the girl out of the rain and could not succeed so he didn't see why he should punish himself further. If she didn't have the sense to get dry, then what fault was it of his? 

"How is it you have a guiding light when no one lives there?"

"I said no one of interest." The light seemed to grow and fade with the strength of the storm. "The wind is throwing us off but we'll catch the spot I need soon enough." Jack muttered.

The activity on the main deck didn't slacken with the rain. There always seemed to be something falling, shifting, or needing to be retied. Will worked with Ana Maria adjusting the knots to be ready to drop canvas as soon as they reached the desired location. After the first attempt, there were no more suggestions to Elizabeth to seclude herself below decks, and now she spent her time divided between watching the light in the distance and watching the Captain of the Pearl fight an ever-losing battle against exhaustion. 

As night settled the order finally came, Jack bellowed to Gibbs who bellowed to Ana, "Drop the canvas!" The great sails of the ship fell slack, and all hands worked to secure and bind them down to the masts. At the same time, Jack ran to release the rope securing the anchor, allowing extra rope for the swelling waves. The wind and waves proved to be less violent in the bay than at sea but the ship still rocked dangerously enough to make footing difficult. There were ropes tied at intervals around the deck for gripping, and now Elizabeth noticed Jack increasingly relied on them to keep from falling. 

But she didn't say anything. It was her suspicion that a word from her telling him to rest would be just as appreciated as the word from him telling her to get dry. In any case, Jack Sparrow took care of himself for plenty of years before Elizabeth came on the scene and she assumed he'd be taking care of himself long after she left. Just another suspicion. He now headed towards the mast to help Gibbs with the ropes and Elizabeth followed at a fair distance. So long as she kept out of the way no one could tell her to hide below deck, and she intended to continue with that line of strategy as long as possible. 

That was how she caught sight of the torn rigging before anyone else did. Staying behind held some advantage for watching and the slight movement caught her eye. The ropes securing a line of barrels along the gunwale were wearing from the strain and one in particular looked to be worn almost threadbare and ready to snap. It was one of those moments where things seem to move in acceleration while you can't seem to move at all. She watched the barrel shift to the side, and the rope snapped. The barrel teetered with the next wave, and tragedy almost passed as it teetered starboard into the water. The next swell sent the ship rocking to portside and the barrel took this to be a better idea. Unfortunately, this new direction took the barrel plunging directly towards where Jack and Gibbs worked on the lines by the main mast. 

Reaction took place before conscious thought and reasoning had a chance to catch up. If she thought about it she might have yelled a particular phrase like, "Move!" Or "Watch out!" but those word required more time to form then her brain allowed and all that came out was a hurriedly screeched, "Jack!" 

The scream brought about the exact opposite reaction than the one desired; the men stopped and looked in her direction. Unfortunately, they remained in direct line of the barrel and now looked away from the source of danger. The next instinct to overcome Elizabeth's sense of better judgement prompted her to run towards them. What she hoped to accomplish, other then to add herself to the barrels soon to be victims, seemed to encompass some kind of remarkable rescue. 

Unlikely. 

Both men looked completely baffled by the mad woman rushing their way but only Gibbs did the intelligent thing by stepping aside. Jack finally caught onto her warning, though too late, and turned just as the barrel bore down on him. She felt his arm wrap around her waist as she slammed into his side, then the barrel finally collided and shoved Jack and her backwards with the momentum. She felt rope against one hand as she almost caught hold of the ship, but rather then hold, the rope burned across her palm as it slid through her fingers. She felt several tugs as Jack struggled to catch hold, but nothing stopped them, not even crashing into and over the gunwale, until she felt the sudden cold smack of hitting water.

The world lost all meaning of up and down as the waves crashed over her head and the salty water burned her lungs. Hands gripped her arms and dragged her up to where she finally managed to break through the waves and take her first real breath.  The sound of the waves and surrounding darkness overwhelmed her senses. The dim light of the Pearl looked impossibly far away after having just fallen off it but it was the only land mark she could discern, so that was where she swam towards. 

Before she could get too far she felt a pull on her shirt dragging her in the other direction.

"The waves'll crush us against the hull. Swim for the shore." Jack yelled as he turned and pointed towards the much dimmer light marking land.

She couldn't do it, but she didn't waste her breath arguing. Jack kept a hold of her shirt pulling her in his own direction until Elizabeth managed to push him off and swim on her own. 

Other then the brief flashes from the lighting, darkness encompassed everything away from the light of the Pearl and Elizabeth soon found herself swimming alone. With the waves and the rain it was impossible to judge how far they had left to go before reaching the distant hope of light on shore. It would be so easy to just stop fighting and give into the power of the waves dragging her under, but she kept her eyes locked on the light ahead, and focused her thoughts towards the goal of giving Jack a good thrashing for leaving her behind. 

After what seemed like hours, her feet touched the sand bar. The struggle continued with the waves constantly sucking back on her legs, but with her feet touching ground, the hardest part was over. Now on land, the light shined through the rain like a beacon of salvation from the lantern hanging on a pike rising six feet above the sand. She couldn't see if there was any shelter close by and she didn't care. The lantern was her destination and she made it. 

But she was alone. 

_Authors note: what do you think so far? Please leave a review if only to let me know that you've read this far, and if you've got the time please offer suggestions on how to improve my writing. Thanks very much. _

_-Rat_


	3. A Heart's Desire

**Chapter 3**

_But she was alone_. 

It wasn't fair. He couldn't do this to her. 

She sat down in the wet sand and leaned back, letting the stinging rain hit her face. It felt like heaven to be able to sit and breathe. 

He must have already made it to shore. Elizabeth looked back out towards the sea and searched the water with her eyes but saw only the churning waves. Either side of her along the beach looked similarly deserted. That didn't mean anything. Jack probably made it to shore long before she did. 

No, there was no use in worrying about Jack Sparrow. She didn't even know why she ran to his rescue in the first place. Stupid move is what that was. Jack always took care of himself first, and he obviously found some better place to wait out the storm. Bloody pirate. 

She clung to the anger and outrage at being deserted as stubbornly as she clung onto the hope of finding shore; she just couldn't deal with the possibility of the alternative. 

Dawn

"Elizabeth." 

The voice came from far away, and for a long time she couldn't understand what it wanted of her. Eventually she opened her eyes. Her fiancé Will Turner stood directly above her, his face grey and indistinct in the faint light of morning. A shiver coursed through her body as she became aware of the drizzling rain still falling all around her. 

"Can you move?" A new voice, a woman's voice, spoke next and the words were full of urgency. 

Elizabeth stretched experimentally and found that, yes, she could move. The memory of the night before came rushing back with another wave of nausea. "He left me behind. I couldn't find him." Somehow, she managed to roll to her side as she coughed up what was left of the seawater she swallowed on her way to shore. 

"He left you?" Will and Ana asked in unison. 

The tears swelled unbidden to her stinging eyes. "I thought he'd be here, but I couldn't find him." With great effort, Elizabeth pushed herself upright into a sitting position. She could not fight the tears, but she absolutely refused to break down and sob like a useless idiot. "Is he with you?" 

"No." Ana Maria answered softly. She adjusted the cloak around Elizabeth's shoulders. It was a useless gesture since the girl had been soaked all night, but she needed to do something. "The important thing is that you are now with us." Ana Maria assured her. She now turned to Will. "Take Elizabeth back to the Pearl and get her warm, then send Cotton to wait for me with another boat. I am going to look for Jack." 

The young man didn't argue and Ana Maria didn't expect him too; Jack may have been their friend, but Elizabeth held top priority in young Turner's mind. Ana checked herself; Jack is their friend, and she refused to give up on the pirate so easily. The girl, though exhausted, needed remarkably little help making it back to the boat and Ana felt duly impressed. 

"Where did you last see Jack?" Ana asked before Will pushed the boat back into deeper water. 

"I don't know. I don't know where I lost him." Elizabeth whispered and would not look Ana in the eye, but as Will rowed the boat back towards the Pearl, Elizabeth called out one last thing before moving out of earshot. "When you find him, tell him he better have had a good reason for going off on his own." 

"I will." Ana yelled back and then set her mind to finding Jack.

She didn't know where to begin, and the worst of it was that she didn't honestly believe there would be anything to find. Sure, she didn't want to give up hope, but realistically? If Jack were able, he would have found his way to the lantern, and the simple fact that he wasn't able to spoke volumes.

Through the remaining haze of rain, the shoreline stretched out unchanged in either direction for as far as visibility allowed. Ana pulled her canvas cloak tightly around her shoulders to ward off the damp, and resolutely set off east along the beach. The current seemed to be flowing more in that direction then any other, and if a body were to wash up on shore in the aftermath of a storm that was most likely where she would find it. She kept her eyes peeled for any scrap of clothing or suspicious markings as she trudged along. 

This wasn't the first time she found herself body hunting. Five years ago, she walked along a beach similar to this one outside of Tortuga, and she remembered walking it with just as much determination. Funny how life runs in circles, because it was on that walk where she first met Jack, though of course he wasn't who she was looking for at the time. 

***

Wreckage from five Navy caravels littered the shore from the latest hurricane. Pieces of broken crates and the treasures once contained within lay strewn across the beach. Occasionally she came across another bloated and battered body of what was once a man, only looking at it for the time she needed to identify it as not belonging to the man she wished to find before moving on. She wasn't alone in her task and counted at least six others. 

Two women walked together, sharing their misery through heart wrenching sobs while they scoured the beach for lost loved ones. Three children picked through pieces of crates, intent on finding the remainder of something at least somewhat valuable to sell on the street to earn a few coins. And one man stood alone staring sometimes into the distance, and often staring at Ana herself. As she made her way further along the shoreline and away from the others, he followed discreetly behind. Any other day she might have felt uncomfortable or threatened by the unwanted attention, but this day she welcomed the intrusion. Let him look, she thought, let him or any other man try to take advantage of her again, and she would show them just what it meant to deal with Ana Maria Delamonte. 

Gradually the man drew closer until he stood only six feet away. She refused to even give him the satisfaction of looking in his direction. 

He watched her prod another corpse with her foot and roll it onto it's back. She studied the grotesquely battered face for a moment, and then stepped over it to continue walking. 

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" He asked. 

She did turn to him then, and she could not hide the fury behind her eyes. "What is your business here?"

He shrugged and waved a hand vaguely towards the horizon. "Paying homage to a harsh mistress. Who is it that you're looking for?" 

"My husband." 

He lowered his eyes and nodded his head with his hands held together as though in prayer to touch his lips with his index fingers. "My condolences on your loss."

Ana Maria smiled ferociously. "Best thing that happened since I got married so far as I'm concerned. I'm only looking for his body to prove the bastard dead." 

He cocked his head to one side and smiled back. "Then I suppose you'd be available to take a drink with me tonight at the Faithful Bride back in Tortuga."

"Only if you intend to pay, and only after I find my husband's remains." 

"By all means. I'll even help you search." He offered and started walking beside her. 

Together, they eventually found him. She spat on the corpse, turned around, and headed back to Tortuga with Jack Sparrow on her arm, intent on enjoying her first night of widowhood.

***

In the very least, Jack deserved a proper burial. 

Ana thought of what she might have done differently in the last five years, and of what she didn't get around to doing at all. One thing in particular stood out more then the rest in her gallery of regrets. In her quest to ensure that she'd never again become trapped in another abusive relationship, she refused to allow any new relationships to develop. In particular, the relationship she might have had with Jack.

She cursed herself for being too much of a coward to admit her inner feelings, and in desperation looked up at the rain clouds still hovering overhead. "God, or whatever you are, let Jack be alive and I swear I'll do anything."

It wasn't like she expected lightning to part the sky and deposit her Captain on the sand right in front of her or anything like that, but she felt disappointed at the lack of acknowledgement regardless. On the other hand, maybe it was simply that she didn't swear on the right thing. 

"I swear I'll never yell at him again, or hide his rum and drink it myself." She yelled out. Still nothing. "I swear I'll tell him the truth about what we did to his hat after he fell asleep last month at the Faithful Bride." The memory made her smile, but it also unleashed the flood of emotions resting just below the surface. She tilted her head skyward for the rain to wash away her tears. "I swear I'll never take him for granted, and I'll tell him…" She faltered on this last one, but she needed to say it. "I swear I'll tell him how much he means to me, and how much it hurts to think I've lost him for good." She stopped walking and knelt down on the sand, unable to continue with the pain of emotion tearing at her guts. "Please, I'll do anything, just let him be alive." 

Still, nothing changed. The rain continued to fall, and Ana shivered at the moisture she felt soaking through her canvas cloak. She was a fool; what good could she do yelling at the sky? All those times she scoffed at the priests who prayed for the poor and sick, expecting their god to take care of the people they themselves would do nothing to help, how would doing the same be of any good to her? 

She wouldn't spend another minute, or waste another tear, on things over which she held no control. Resolutely she stood up and continued her trek along the shore. For all the times Jack gambled with danger and escaped relatively unscathed, he was bound to lose eventually. She held onto the knowledge that unlike most people, Jack Sparrow lived long enough to attain his heart's desire and reclaimed the Black Pearl. 

A dark shape took form on the sand in the distance and Ana Maria squinted to see it more clearly. It looked like a hat. Moreover, it looked like Jack's hat. Her own discomfort and fatigue forgotten, she broke into a sprint. If Jack's hat found its way to shore, then maybe Jack also found his way. 

The hat sat partly buried in the sand and as Ana knelt to retrieve it she spotted an odd trail in the sand. It looked like something had been dragged out of the water, across the sand, and over the dunes. She followed the trail up to the bushes and stood in shock at the sight of a boot sticking out from under a palmetto bush. 

She found him. Ana Maria dropped his hat in her rush to kneel beside Jack, and felt her breath catch in her throat at the sight of him sprawled awkwardly on his back in the mud. His head rested to the right, half submerged in a puddle, his left arm lay twisted at an unnatural angle under his back, and his legs bent at the knees toward the left. Unable to see the rise and fall of his chest, she lifted his head out of the water and pressed her fingers against the side of his throat, feeling for a pulse. 

She felt it. Beneath her fingers his skin felt warm to the touch, and she felt the steady rhythm of his heart beat.

"Jack." She placed his head in her lap and smoothed the tangled hair away from his face. During the night, he lost his bandana, most of the beads and braids in his hair, and even the charcoal washed away from his eyes. He looked different without his accessories, almost like any other man. She reached out, took hold of his right hand, and rubbed his palm with her thumb. 

"Come back to me Jack." She leaned over so that her lips were almost touching his ear, and felt his fingers twitch in her hand. 

Abruptly, his entire body jerked in spasm and his mouth opened wide, desperately trying to draw in breath. He saw Ana Maria kneeling over him, and then looked away to search the rest of his surroundings. 

"He was here, did you see him?" His voice came out harsh and barely audible. He slowly pushed himself up with his right arm, careful not to put any pressure on his left side. 

Her spirit sang with joy for the miracle that was Jack, but her heart sank with the words he spoke because she understood the question and the yearning behind it more then she'd like to admit. He referred to the ghost story about a skeletal demon walking the beach in the moonlight to tend the lantern.  It was a story she knew Jack wanted to believe in.  "I'm sorry Jack." 

Her platitude only served to agitate him further. Jack pushed away from her roughly, but only succeeded in losing his own balance and slipping into the mud. "I saw him, he pulled me from the water." 

"I believe you, but I haven't seen him." They were both covered in mud now, and Ana removed her cloak to wrap around his shoulders. "Cotton is waiting to take us back to the Black Pearl." 

He coughed before being able to speak again, but his voice sounded no better for it. "Did Elizabeth make it?"

"Her sweet-heart, Will, is taking care of her back on the Pearl as we speak." Ana assured him. "Jack, I found you on my own without any help from man or ghost." 

"Bootstrap is on this bay, and he is the one tending the lantern." Jack pressed. He refused to accept the hand she offered as he struggled to his feet. 

"Yes, you told me the story. Back in the glory days, little Jack Sparrow and Bootstrap used this bay for their smuggling and they used the lantern as a signal to meet and pick up more goods." Ana poised ready to reach out and offer a hand if necessary as she kept pace walking slowly beside him as he limped towards the beach. "Ever since I met you, you've been obsessed with coming here.  That's five years Jack, and we've never seen him.  Even now that you've lifted the curse and took back the Pearl, nothing has changed."

"I saw him." 

"Maybe he did save you from drowning like you say, but he didn't care enough to wait and make sure you'd still be alive come morning. Don't you see there's something seriously off here?"

"All the more reason to find him."

"And how do you intend to do that?  He won't come to you.  Every time we've stopped on this cursed beach you sit and wait, and every time you leave disappointed."

"I've never come with young Turner before." Jack shot back. 

"What do you have planned?"

"I think it's about time for our Will to meet his namesake, don't you?" 

Ana didn't respond. 

They both paused as a parrot flew overhead. "One of these days I'm going to find out how he trained that bloody thing."  Jack muttered. 

Cotton appeared with the long boat minutes later to take them back to the Pearl. 

_Note:  I've reworked the end of this chapter to sit better with what's happening in my mind.  Please let me know if it moves smoothly or too quick, or not at all!  Thanks, Rat_


	4. Stories Told Between the Lines

_Note:  I revised the ending of the last chapter (only the last few paragraphs) so it might be an idea to just look it over.  Nothing drastic has changed but it certainly makes more sense than it did earlier.  _

**Red Sky in Morning Chapter 4.0**

Cotton sailed the long boat along the coast in search of Ana.  It hurt his heart to think they'd lost their Captain to such unfortunate circumstances.  If the Jack Sparrow he knew cared about anything, it was image, and to be remembered as the fierce Pirate Captain who fell off his own ship and drowned during a storm would not sit well with the man in his afterlife.  Nope, that wouldn't sit well at all.  

Nevertheless, if Jack Sparrow's mortal troubles were ended, then the troubles for the remaining crew of the Black Pearl were just beginning.  Not a one of them, except for maybe Ana Maria, were captaining material, and he doubted Ana Maria sincerely wanted to take on that role.  He kept a close eye on the girl since meeting her and he came to one conclusion, she stayed on board because of Jack.  Not for the promise he made to find her a new ship, not to be a pirate on the most respected raiding ship in the waters, but because she held no ties to anywhere else she might think to set her sails.  She held ties to Jack though.  Cotton saw a lot, and he saw the looks the two shared when no one else was paying attention.  

His parrot flew overhead and circled the long boat a couple times to get his attention before heading off back towards the east.  Damn bird.  Cotton picked up the oars and headed eastwards.  He'd hate to lose Ana Maria now that Jack was gone, but change was the way of the sea, and good or bad he intended roll with the waves no matter what direction they pulled.  

Through the mist Cotton caught sight of two shadowy figures on the sand.  He crossed himself and thought a short prayer to St. Nicholas the patron saint of the sea.  Jack Sparrow was far too lucky for his own good, and Cotton feared for the day that luck would turn.  Be that as it may, Cotton thanked whatever power out there who thought to spare his Captain's life from yet another grim fate.  

**Back on the Pearl**

The rain continued coming from a sky consisting of depressingly uniform gray cloud cover, and Ana felt thankful to finally be out of it.  Will and Elizabeth sat huddled together on Jack's cot and watched Ana try to coax Jack into taking off his wet shirt.  He sat leaning against a storage closet with a bottle of rum held firmly in his grip.  

"You need to get dry."  

The look he cast to his first mate would have sent a lesser man, or woman, into hiding.  "I'm dry enough.  This is my ship…" His rant ceased momentarily as he turned to the side and coughed up something phlegmmy.  "And I'll not have you telling me what to do on my own ship."  He pointed an unsteady finger at Ana.  "Why don't you get yourself dry if you're so concerned about being wet?"  

Not to be outdone Ana pointed her own finger right back at him.  "You are a stubborn son of a mangy sea dog, with flees."  She pounced at him, pulled off the wet canvas cloak, and tossed it aside to land with a wet thump in an undignified heap near the door.  

Jack looked a little shocked at the suddenness of the attack, and abruptly stood up in response to defend him self.  "Sea dog?  At least I'm not a… a…" He swayed slightly and Ana rushed immediately to his side to wrap her arm around his chest, taking great care to slowly lower him back to the floor.  "I'm not mangy."  He croaked finally.  

"No, you're not mangy."  Ana agreed softly and placed her hand against his forehead.  "What you are is burning up with fever."  She coaxed the bottle of rum out of his hand and started untying his shirt, this time he didn't fight her.  She maneuvered his arms out of the sleeves and tossed the shirt to the side.  "Oh, Jack."  The words escaped in barely a whisper as she quickly drew a warm blanket around his shoulders.  The entire left side of his torso including his shoulder were discolored and swollen with bruising.  "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"  

His eyes looked glassy and disoriented when they met her own.  "We hit the gunwale on the way out."  Now his eyes traveled down to where Ana Maria's skillful little fingers were undoing the ties on his breeches.  "I always imagined we'd get around to this sooner or later, just never thought we'd be doing it in front of an audience."  

Elizabeth and Will sat quietly and watched the interplay between the Captain of the Black Pearl and his first mate with rapt interest.  They both coughed and shifted under Ana's resulting glare in their direction.  "It's the fever talking."  She explained.

Elizabeth and Will nodded enthusiastically and didn't bother hide their grins.

"Don't be taking this too personally Jack."  Ana warned as she pulled off his wet breeches and covered him with yet another dry blanket.

"You're turn."  He reclaimed his rum and took a long drink.  "Tis only fair, wouldn't you say?"  

"My turn for what?"

"To change into dry clothing."  Will offered.  Everyone looked at him a moment, and Elizabeth punched his arm, but he shrugged.  "Just trying to help."  

The teasing didn't bother Ana Maria in the least.  Did no one in this room recall she'd been living with sailors, sleeping, changing, and performing bodily functions around them since making the Pearl her home?  If her heart started pounding with anxiety every time she needed to get something done, she'd have died of embarrassment long ago.  So why did this time seem different?  

Perhaps it was because this time she was being overtly watched.  "Fine, if that's the way it's got to be."  She turned to Jack and slowly untied the top knot of her vest.  "Oh, but wait, my clothing is stored in the hold.  Guess we'll just have to save the show for later then, won't we?"  Then she left.  

Elizabeth laughed out loud.  So far as female role models were concerned, she supposed she could do a lot worse then the woman-pirate.  A change seemed to come over Jack after Ana Maria left the room, and Elizabeth nudged Will, urging him to offer some assistance.  

Will glanced at his fiancé and then back at the sick, tired, and naked under the blanket pirate, and became uncomfortably aware that he and Elizabeth were at this moment camped out on his bed.  "We were afraid we lost you."  

The pirate shook his head and corrected young turner on his choice of words.  "Not lost, misplaced."  

The rocking of the ship sent the lantern tilting on it's rope and sent oddly shaped shadows fluttering around the small room.  "You should be resting."  

"What's it look like I'm doing?"  Jack responded and thrust the rum in Will's direction.  Most of the time, Will shunned the drink out of respect of Elizabeth who did not approve of alcohol, but this time he accepted and came to sit beside his friend on the floor.  Jack watched him drink and then snatched back the bottle.  "It's the oddest feeling."  

"What is?"  Will asked.

Jack looked back towards the door Ana walked out of and squinted as though not sure of what he was seeing.  Will and Elizabeth followed his gaze towards the door, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.  "I don't remember.  Not exactly."      

Elizabeth was reminded of the night she spent with Jack on the deserted island after Barbosa made them walk the plank.  His voice sounded soft now, a mixture of disappointment and anger, like it did when he admitted to being less of the legend the stories made him out to be concerning his miraculous escape.  

"I mean, I remember swimming, and I remember watching for the lantern."  

"About that lantern."  She got up and took a place on the floor with the two men, so that she and Will sat on either side of the pirate.  "How is it that it's there?" 

"It's always been there."   

"But how do you know of it?  And who tends it?"  

"A family used to live on the bay.  Just a small family and there was nothing special about them, at least nothing that would draw attention.  Or so you'd think."  He relaxed and his tone took on a quality all talented storytellers spoke with that sounded dreamy and far away, as though he were actually seeing his story and merely describing what he saw.  "Anyhow, this family fished on the bay, and they'd have a lantern set on the beach for nights the boat stayed out late.  Then some smugglers came along realised that this bay would make a good place for their hideout, it being relatively unknown and out of view of the trading passage the Navy ships are so fond of.  Of course that meant the family had to go, but they figured the practice of setting a lantern was a good enough idea and so kept it on."  

"What happened to the family?"  Elizabeth asked.

"They didn't take well to being put out of their house.  But, as the smugglers couldn't have fishermen messing with their operation, there was no choice but to kill them."  

The room fell quiet for a minute.  Elizabeth could feel her heart sinking in her chest and didn't want to ask the next question, but couldn't help it either.  "And how do you know of this?"

"I was a smuggler."  

"But there aren't smugglers here now, right?  So who tends the lantern?"

"No more smugglers.  But the locals living further inland believe its ghosts on account of what went on here."  

"And what happened to the smugglers?"

Jack's grin looked somewhat chilling in the shadowy light.  "Legend is that the ghost's got 'em."  

"But if you were a smuggler, wouldn't that mean that the ghosts got you too?"  Will asked sceptically.

Jack shrugged.  "Maybe.  All I know is the bay's been deserted since then."  He watched Ana Maria walk back into the cabin wearing fresh clothing but she stayed silent as Jack continued.  "Beyond that, who can say?"  

"Who can say what?"  Ana announced her presence. 

Jack grinned up at her.  "They can say what ever they like so far as it's interesting; not that there's much of that going around lately."  

Ana turned to Will and Elizabeth, they both looked somewhat uncomfortable with whatever Jack had been telling them.  "I've put aside some hot broth and clean bedding for you in the crews quarters of the forecastle."

Understanding her intention Will stood up and helped Elizabeth to her feet.  "Thank-you."  He said to her then turned back to Jack with a look that meant he'd pester him for answers that made more sense later.  "Get some rest."  Then he placed an arm around Elizabeth and led her across the ship.  

Relieved to finally be alone Ana Maria knelt beside Jack and looked him over carefully.  "Let's get you in bed."  She took his arm and helped pull him up to his feet.  Jack swayed and held onto her for support, but he didn't let her manoeuvre him towards the bed, instead, he veered to the table and sat down on the bench.  

"Bed."  Ana Maria insisted.  

"Trust me, sleep is the last thing I'm needing at the moment."  

"Fine."  She didn't know what else she could do for him.  "Do whatever you want.  I'll come back and check on you later."  

_Authors note; this update came more slowly due to a number of unfortunate accidents.  I got sick, burned my hand, went to school, and in that order but I'm still sick.  Blah.  So, the next chapter is already underway and there should be some good luck headed in my direction soon so another update shouldn't be too long in the coming.  Thanks for reading, and if you see any way that I can improve anything please give me a hint.  Or just let me know you've read this far!_

_-Rat_


	5. Almost There

_Before we continue, I want to thank my wonderful beta-reader Julie for her wonderful insight and advice.  Without you, this story would be adrift.  Thank-you for all your help and inspiration.  _

_And to everyone who has reviewed, thank-you!!!!   _

**Chapter 5, Almost There**

The rain slackened to a drizzle by late morning, and ceased altogether shortly past noon.  The Pearl remained anchored in the bay while the crew worked to repair the damage wrought by the storm.  

The subject of most of everyone's thoughts remained conspicuously absent.  No one saw hide or hair of Jack Sparrow since Ana Maria stomped out of his cabin earlier in the day, and as for Ana Maria, no one dared cross her path.  No one except Will and Elizabeth who apparently didn't know any better, but then seeing as they were cornered below deck when she tracked them down there wasn't much place for them to run to.  

"What did Jack say to you?"

The young couple looked somewhat uncomfortable.  "He told us the history of the bay."  Will answered.  "A story about a family killed by smugglers.  Is it true?"

Ana felt a headache developing at her temples.  It surprised her that Jack would tell that particular story, but then she had her suspicions he hadn't told all of it.  "That depends on what he told you, doesn't it?  Did he mention the part he played in his tale?"  

"As one of the smugglers." 

The tension in the air surrounding Ana Maria increased to the point Will feared it might suffocate them all.  The woman looked ready to say something, but she remained silent.  

"Did he really participate in killing the family living there?"  Elizabeth prodded.  

"He believes he did."

There were many beliefs that Elizabeth modified since being rescued by Jack on the day of Norrington's promotion ceremony but fortunately, the evil of killing was not one of them.  It was true that she didn't know Jack Sparrow for very long or very well, but she had a hard time coming to terms with the thought that he would be involved in the cold blooded murder of an innocent family.  In fact, the only person she witnessed Jack kill was Barbosa.  

"Jack doesn't kill."  Apparently, Will's thoughts were similar to hers. 

 "Jack does kill."  The three of them turned to face the object of their discussion.  Jack stepped off the ladder and leaned against one of the bunks.  He looked almost back to his old self, dressed in dry clothing, hair re-braided and beaded, and his eyes circled with charcoal.  What worried Ana wasn't his attire or manner, but the remaining coarseness in his voice and the haze of fever in his eyes.  

"Speak of the devil."  Ana muttered.

He grinned wickedly.  "And here I am.  Now, if you will all resist gossiping for a moment, I have an announcement to make.  The men are needing a much deserved break after the excitement of the storm we've just weathered, and so tonight we shall all make camp on the beach to celebrate our little victory over nature with a bonfire and plenty of rum."

"What of the ghosts?"  Elizabeth asked, and the taunting in her voice made Jack laugh out loud. 

"They can have some rum too, least we can do seeing as it's their beach."  He bowed and climbed back up onto the deck with his first mate following closely behind.  

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"  

If it weren't for the grip she held on his arm he probably wouldn't have stopped to argue with her.  Ana guessed that his stopping had to do with two main facts, one, having the Captain and First Mate wrestling on the main deck wasn't the most dignified example to be setting for the crew, and two, due to his recent swim to shore he probably wasn't all that sure of coming out on top of said tussle.  

"We'll discuss this later."

"No.  We discuss this now."

After a brief stare down, which apparently Ana Maria won, they retreated to Jack's quarters to argue in private.  He sat down on the bench and rested his arms on the table.  

"What do you want?"

She advanced on him and yet again took his temperature with the palm of her hand.  "You are sick.  You should be in bed."

"No.  I should be dead."  He paused a moment to give the words emphasis.  "But I'm not, and I've no intention of attaining that graceful state of being any time soon."  Before she could say anything in rebuttal, he continued.  "And as for being sick, I'll remain sick whether I'm moving about on my ship, or laying on my back doing nothing in my bunk.  Of the two, I prefer to remain up and moving.  Savvy?"

"I _savvy_ that you are an obstinate fool with a death wish."

"Good, then we have an accord.  I remain up and moving freely about my ship and you'll stop acting like an old fishwife."  

If she had a gun with her that moment, she might have used it.  "And you intend to join the festivities tonight?"  She inquired instead.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."  

"And Will Turner?  If Bootstrap won't show himself to you, what makes you think he'll welcome coming public in front of the entire crew?"  

"We won't be with the entire crew though, will we?  I intend on taking young William for a tour of the sites, alone."  

"You had this planned all along didn't you?"  

"Yes, absolutely.  The storm was all my idea, as was the loose barrel that took Miss Swann and myself for a swim, as well, and isn't this brilliant, I even pretended to drown just to catch Bootstrap's attention.  I admit it, I orchestrated everything."  On that note, he stood up and positioned himself inches from her face.  

"That's not what I meant."

"Isn't it?"

"No."  She stood her ground and didn't back off.  "You don't know how it felt, thinking I might have lost you."  Their eyes were locked on each other, neither daring to look away.  She leaned into him slightly and tenderly brushed her lips against his.  She felt his mouth open and his warm moist tongue lightly caressed her lips.  "And I promised…"  Heat enveloped her body; she could hear nothing beyond the throbbing of her heart pounding in her head.  "If I were to ever see you again, I promised that…"

"What did you promise?"  

His voice sent shivers running up and down her spine, she leaned into him further and wanted nothing more then to lose her self to him.  "I promised I'd tell you…"

"Tell me what?"

It felt like a dance.  His hands travelled across her shoulders and down to her hips.  Her body moulded to his in a perfect match.  "I promised I'd tell you what we did to your hat."

The dance ended, the moment of heat sputtered and died.  In perfect synchronicity, they both took a step back from each other.  Jack slowly took his pirate hat from his head and studied it in his hands.  "What did you do to my hat?"

"We."  Ana corrected, feeling as though she just dodged a bullet.  "When you passed out at the Faithful Bride last month we stole your hat and took it to a voodoo witch."  

"A voodoo witch?"

"And she anointed it with a kind of potion that would make your hair fall out.  Just temporarily.  We made her promise that it'd grow back, and we all felt really bad about it afterwards."  

Jack blinked and raised a hand to his head, just to make sure everything that should be there still was.  "But my hair didn't fall out."

"I didn't say she was any good."

With his beloved hat back on his head, Jack sat down.  "So let me get this straight.  You thought I was dead, and you vowed that if you ever saw me again you'd confess to taking my hat to a voodoo witch who put a spell on it to make me go bald, none of which happened in any case, but you just felt this would be the opportune moment for you to confess your sins?"

Ana Maria nodded.  

"Oh.  Well then."  He stood back up and walked past her.  "Let's get this party started."

Authors note: as usual this is where I beg for more feedback, what did you think?  Is anyone there?  That sort of thing.  Thanks!  Chapter Six coming soon to a web page near you! 

_-Rat_


	6. Moving On

**Chapter Six**

Ana stood back and watched the bonfire light up the beach.  Her fellow shipmates reclined on the sand, drinking rum and talking loudly while Mr Gibbs seemed to be in the process of trying to teach Cotton's Parrot a randy sailor song.  

The sand felt cool and soft under her bare feet, and for a moment, Ana Maria simply allowed herself to take a deep breath and relax.  The night was amazing, the cool breeze caressed her skin, and the stars glittered like diamonds in the sky with the crescent moon sitting on the horizon offering only a hint of its glow.  

On a night like this, she could forget her past, ignore the future, and simply appreciate the now.  Right now, she felt happy and she lifted the bottle of rum back up to her lips in a desperate effort to hold onto that feeling.  

Too late.  

Through the darkness, her eyes sought out the object of her distraction.  Jack stood off to the side staring at Will and Elizabeth.  The couple sat together with their arms wrapped around each other, the very picture of youthful devotion and love.  

Through the darkness, her eyes sought out the object of her distraction.  Jack stood off to the side staring at Will and Elizabeth.  Ana recognised that look on his face, he was brooding, and Jack brooding was never a good thing.  In an action of supreme self-sacrifice, Ana Maria bit the bullet and placed her own well being on the line for the safety of the entire Caribbean.  She stepped up, and attempted to divert him with clever conversation.  

"So."  She said. 

"So."  He said. 

"Lovely night."  She said.  

He smiled.  "And soon to get even better."  The gold teeth in his mouth reflected the light from her lantern. 

"What are you thinking?"

The intent gaze wandered back towards Will and Elizabeth.  "I'm contemplating how to finish the story."  

"Tell them the truth Jack."

That advice didn't appear to sit well with the Pirate standing in front of her.  "And when has the truth ever done any good?"  

"You can't hide from it forever."

He looked down at the sand.  "There is a difference between hiding and putting what's past behind you.  Moving on.  We could have a fine discussion on what it means to move on, luv."  

"It is our past that builds us into what we are today."  

"But if the foundation is rotten, it's best to rip it out and start over."  

Ana Maria got the distinct feeling he wasn't just speaking about himself.  "I'm not the one who carried a bullet for ten years meant for one person."  

"No, you only wasted the same measure of time wed a man with the integrity of a weevil."  Jack shot back.  "We could play this game all night.  I spent a long time creating who I am today."

"And how would you lose that by being honest with a couple of friends who genuinely care about who you really are?"  

He seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment.  "We're here tonight for a reason, I think it'd be best if I saw to that instead."  

It was a dismissal.  Jack left Ana Maria standing alone and sauntered up to the young couple sitting by the fire, and so she followed him and stood only a couple feet away as he interjected himself into their quiet conversation.  

"I didn't finish the story about the bay."  He began. 

The two looked at each other in silent communication then turned to Jack.  Will asked the question they both needed an answer to, and his voice came across hesitant showing how much he feared the answer.  "Did you kill those people Jack?"

"Come, I have something to show you."  He stood up awkwardly and waited for them to follow.  "I still need to pay my respects."

"To who?"

"The ghosts.  It's the right thing to do, of course.  Especially seeing as I already promised them a share of the rum."  Jack grabbed two full bottles from the stash. "I'd hate to disappoint."   

 Ana Maria stepped closer and handed Will a lantern to light their way along the trek.  This might be Jack's show, but she would be damned if she'd stand aside and let it play out without her.  "Tell them where you're taking them, or we aren't going anywhere."

He smiled and gracelessly turned to face her.  "Of course, luv.  Down this path and a little to the east we should find what remains of the frame of an old shack.  And behind that, we'll find two stones."  

"Graves."  Will guessed.  "So you did kill them."

"Right."  Jack answered.

"Wrong."  Ana Maria corrected.  "Jack didn't kill them."  

"None the less, I was there."  The Pirate stated cryptically.  He led them up the beach and over the low dunes to where they wound the remains of an old sign post.  Jack walked past it without another glance, but Will and Elizabeth paused to take a closer look.  She didn't see this the night before while she sat stranded on the beach, but then she didn't see much of anything last night.  

The post stood maybe three feet off the ground, the flat board nailed to it looked weathered, and old, they could see what was once an inscription in the wood, now faded and barely visible due to time and weather.  It marked the beginning of a path over grown with tall weeds and grass.  Will and Elizabeth found it hard to discern where the trail began and ended on the sides or where it turned to, but Jack followed it through the darkness ahead as though it were clean and well marked.  It didn't escape either of them that Jack was more than a little familiar with the terrain.  

They didn't walk far.  "They built the cabin further inland in hopes of protecting the structure from storms."  Jack called back once he stopped.  They now stood just outside the remains of a wood structure.  "Come around this way, but step careful."

He led them in front of two large rocks.  "Here we are."  He placed the rum down on the ground, one beside each.  

What were their names?"  Will asked.  

"I don't remember."  

"If their names are so unimportant then why do you even come here?"  There was a hard edge of disapproval to the Blacksmith's voice.  

"I didn't say unimportant, I said I don't recall.  It was a long time ago.  I can tell you how they died though.  That I do remember."  

He sat down on one of the stones and picked up the bottle he'd just placed on the ground, opened it, and took a long drink.  "I'm sure they won't mind sharing."  He made himself comfortable before continuing.  "These fishermen, whose names I don't recall, died on their knees.  One bullet to the head each.  I've seen it done properly a few times and with skill, the killer can avoid making a mess.  But there was nothing proper about this slaying."

Ana Maria resisted the urge to offer him comfort, knowing it wouldn't be welcome.  She kept her senses tuned to the surrounding area, intent on picking up even the slightest hint of an intruder.  Jack's eyes were focused in the same way, searching for a sign of his old friend.  

"What did you do?"  

Jack turned to Elizabeth, and without a hint of emotion answered her question.  "Nothing.  I watched along with the others, and share the same guilt as the others.  "

Ana couldn't sit quietly any longer.  "Tell them the year your story took place in."  

"That's not what we're here for."  Now back on his feet and pacing back and forth, Jack couldn't seem to sit still any longer.

Ana would not let him of the hook so easily.  "You started this Jack, you better finish it.  How long ago did this happen?  Tell them."

He sighed impatiently.  "I haven't exactly kept track, but I'm guessing it was about twenty five years ago."

It didn't take long for Elizabeth to do the math in her head.  "That would make you barely ten years old at the time.  What kind of smugglers carry children around with them?"

"They don't."  Ana stated.  "Families have children."  

It took some time for Elizabeth and Will to assimilate the new information.  So Jack didn't belong to the smugglers who killed the family, he belonged to the family that got killed.  "That's horrible.  Why didn't you just tell us that, rather than leading us to believe you were involved in their deaths?"

"Because I was involved."  

"But you were only a child!"  Elizabeth reached out a hand to place it against Jack's arm.  "It wasn't you're fault."

He shrugged off her hand and moved away.  "You weren't there.  In any case, this isn't about me.  This is about Bootstrap."  

_My note: Hi!  Just a couple things, **thanks muchly** to my **amazing** beta-reader who has suffered these last few days listening to me whine and complain about how annoying this chapter was to write.  None of the characters wanted to cooperate, but finally after much rum and coaxing they agreed to get along for just a little while longer.  _


	7. Confessions

_Thanks to Julie for your continued attention and support… and especially for your criticism when things don't flow the way they should, and thanks to __Narsil for supplying some of Ana's dialogue in your review.  Couldn't have said it better myself, and didn't even try.  ___

**Chapter Seven, Confessions**

_"This is about Bootstrap."  Jack said._

"What about him?"  The night silenced, apparently holding its breath in anticipation for the answer to Will's question.  

When things are hidden, there is often a reason, and usually it is because what is hidden is either too precious or too horrible to be shown.  When it comes to people and their pasts the same rules apply, and for Jack both the horrible and precious deserved equal protection from the outside world.  The things he kept inside belong to him alone, and he considered them the only things in life that could not be stolen.  Ana Maria understood this because he explained it to her at length one night while they worked through several bottles of rum, and she knew Jack hadn't intended on spilling his messy past all over Will and Elizabeth.  

Just how he had intended to manoeuvre his story around it she didn't know, but she didn't feel particularly sorry about ruining his plans.  

Jack sat down and lay back in the grass to stare up at the sky.  "This is where I met your father, William Turner.  He was just a lad himself at the time, merely a cabin boy on the smugglers ship, but he saved my life.  Course, that may be seen more as a curse than a blessing, but nonetheless, he meant well."  

The wind picked up and Jack sat up to regard Will more closely.  "That's what this is about lad.  William Turner could be compared very closely to his son, not so great in the brains department, but his heart sat in the right place."  His gaze shifted slightly left of Will and towards one particular palm tree that appeared as only a shadow in the surrounding darkness.  Ana understood the significance of his attention but she didn't give anything away, to all concerned Jack stared at nothing other than the past.

"Through good and bad William Turner followed my lead, he followed as we took control of the little smuggling business camped out on my beach here, and then he followed me into the fine art that is Piracy."  All stood riveted to Jack's history lesson.  Even Ana who heard the story before paid close attention.  "The point is the late William Turner trusted my lead.  Remember what I said about the brain thing, cause if he was smarter he'd have known what was to come next.

"He warned me about the Aztec gold, and if I had listened to him, we'd all be somewhere else then where we are right now, and your father would be alive.  I'm sorry.  If I could do it over, it would be different." 

Ana couldn't help it any longer; she knelt beside her friend, and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.  "You should not feel guilty, no one could have predicted Barbossa's betrayal."  Unfortunately, she touched his left shoulder and the touch she offered in comfort made Jack flinch in response.  Caught up in the drama of his story she forgot about his recent injuries.  

Jack swallowed more rum and experimentally rolled his shoulder, but his eyes remained riveted on the shadows behind Will.  "Bill predicted it, he warned me and I did nothing.  In the end, that is where the blame lies.  Even after the mutiny, he convinced the others to simply drop me off on the little island rather than just end the game with a bullet, and what did he receive in return?  A fate far worse at the bottom of the ocean, that's what."

Sitting in close proximity of Jack, Ana Maria could feel heat radiating off his body.  She missed seeing it earlier because of the poor light, and now she began to truly worry.  Though the night felt somewhat cool, Jack's hair and clothing were damp from perspiration.  His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, but Ana Maria could see them shaking slightly from chills.  

"We need to get you back to the Pearl."  

He ignored her.  "You're a good man, Will, just like your father.  He'd be proud of you if he were here."  Jack barely finished the sentence before being overtaken by harsh raking coughs. 

A long silence followed after the coughing ceased.  Will and Elizabeth were now both staring in the same direction as Jack.  Ana felt a tightening in her gut as her stomach turned.  The shadows moved slightly as something within retreated back into the forest.  

"What was that?"  A small knot of fear crept into Elizabeth's voice.  The story of ghosts seeking revenge crept back into her thoughts and the idea of it being truth didn't seem so ludicrous while standing in a graveyard.  

Will turned to Jack.  The look on his face said more then words ever could.  "You weren't talking to us.  This entire time, you were talking to him, weren't you?"  

"Aye."  

"How long have you known?"  

With less then normal grace, Jack stood up look Will in the face.  "Heard the first rumours about five years ago, and suspected since seeing the lantern."  

 "You knew my father was alive and didn't think to share that information with me?  You didn't think I'd want to know, didn't think I had a right to know?"  Will's hand descended to the sword on his belt, but he did not draw, at least not yet.  

Jack shifted and his feet found a comfortable stance, ready to move quickly should a sword start swinging in his direction.  "If it is you're father lad, then trust he's got reasons not to be found.  It's best to respect that."

Elizabeth finally pieced together the puzzle.  "So it's Bootstrap who's keeping the lantern lit.  Why would he do that?"  No one answered her, and she got the distinct impression she might as well not have spoken at all.

"Respect?  Coming from a pirate?"  Will laughed bitterly.  "I heard before that you keep things close to the vest, but this?  You had no right to keep this from me."

"Firstly, I didn't even know you until a few months ago, and secondly I didn't even know for sure his identity until last night.  Therefore, as for the right of being informed your argument runs a mite thin."  Jack stepped slowly to the right away from Ana Maria and Elizabeth.  

He did it to protect them, and there was nothing Ana Maria hated more then chivalry.  In her thinking, it came from ignorance and male arrogance, and she refused to be locked within the category of useless female ever again.  She stepped forward and placed herself directly between Jack and Will.  

"Save the sword play to impress your girl, Will Turner.  Once you're alone with her you may stroke your hilt as often as you please, but don't do it here."  She waited a few seconds for her speech to break through the barrier of masculinity emanating off the whelp.  As soon as his white knuckled grip on the sword relaxed, she continued her rant.  "As for Bootstrap Bill, I've never met him, but I can bet that running around in the bushes at night obsessively tending lanterns isn't part of a healthy personality.  He's lived in hiding for a long time, and before that spent god knows how long drowning and unable to die at the bottom of the ocean.  An experience like that is bound to change a person."   

Now she turned her attention towards Jack.  "As for you, you're an idiot."  She stepped right up to him and poked her finger at his chest.  "Somewhere along the way you got the impression that the world is out to spoil every scheming plan you've thought up, well I'm here to tell you you're wrong."  She took a step back and softened her tone.  "You've got to start trusting your friends Jack, or they're not going to trust you."  

"Why bring me here now?"  Will asked.  

"I saw him last night."  Jack started slowly.  "In the five years I've been coming here looking for him, last night was the first time I actually saw any proof he's not just a ghost or wishful thinking on my part.  I thought coming here, to this spot, would catch his attention, and I hoped that seeing his son would help get through what ever it is making him keep his distance."  

"I'm sorry your plan didn't work as you intended."  Will stepped up beside Ana and offered a hand to Jack in truce.

Jack took an unbalanced step backwards and didn't accept the offer.  "No more then I expected."

"But less then you deserve."  Will answered.

Ana didn't see it coming.  Jack swayed again, and stumbled backwards as his legs gave out from under him.  On the ground, he sat with one arm held close to his side and the other braced against the ground to keep him upright, and he looked pale and couldn't seem to catch his breath.  Ana knelt beside him but wasn't sure how she could help, because she didn't even know what was wrong.  

He coughed painfully into his hand for a minute and once he stopped both he and Ana Maria stared in horror at the dark spots of blood left in his palm.  Jack quickly wiped his hand on his pants and tried to stand up, but Ana placed a hand on his shoulder holding him still.  

"Lay down."  

For once he didn't argue and allowed her to help him lie down on his back, Ana then carefully unbuttoned his shirt.  The bruising on his left side looked darker then it had before and seemed mostly concentrated just under the rib cage.  She gently probed the area with her fingertips and Jack flinched in response.  

"What happened?"  Elizabeth knelt on Jack's other side and held the lantern in a position to offer Ana the best light.  

Ana wouldn't answer.  She could barely think a comprehensive thought past the mantra of, _this can't be happening_, echoing over and over through her mind.  She placed a hand on Jack's forehead, then picked up his arm and wrapped her fingers around the inside of his wrist.  The skin on his arm felt cool and damp, and the pulse raced.  "He's bleeding."  She said finally.

Elizabeth frowned.  "There's no blood Ana."  

"I mean on the inside."  Ana whispered.  "I've seen it once before.  I saw a man fall from a crow's nest a few years back, and everyone thought it was a miracle that he survived with just some bruises.  At first he seemed okay, but he soon started feeling dizzy and coughing blood, and after that he died."  

"That's not what's happening to Jack."  Elizabeth insisted.  "He was fine until just a couple seconds ago."  

"When did you start feeling light headed?"  

Jack met Ana's accusing glare and forced a grin.  "Sometime this afternoon."

Thinking about it now, Ana kicked herself for not seeing it sooner.  She thought Jack's lack of balance was just from being tired and sore, she thought maybe he was coming down with a cold or something, but nothing serious and definitely not this.  She thought that after finding him alive on the beach the worst of her worries were over, she never considered the possibility that that worst was yet to come.  

Authors note:  Hi!  What do you think?  Post me a line and let me know how it's going.  

_attackrat2002@yahoo.com_


	8. Reactions

Eight  
  
To die. He never thought of it before, not seriously. Jack didn't think of many things seriously. No, that wasn't true. He considered the state of denying the seriousness of a situation to be very serious business indeed.  
  
Take this for instance. Here he lay in the cool and slightly damp grass on a beautiful summer (is there any other season in the Caribbean?) evening, and all he could think about was. dammit, was that really a crawly thing creeping along the back of his neck?  
  
Not that bugs bothered him. Living on a ship you get bugs in everything, beetles and little white wormy things crawling around in the food, you just had to eat around them, or through them depending on the mood and who might be watching. A Captain never wants to give his crew the idea that there's something in the food that really shouldn't be there, because it should if it is, right? Right. Those were the old days mostly, when he'd sail for months without taking port, days when he wasn't Captaining his own ship of coarse. What fun was setting sail for elsewhere if you never got there? No fun, and no gain either unless you set anchor somewhere to sell the goods you've rightfully pilfered along the way.  
  
On the Pearl he saw to it there'd be no need for rationing, or disciplining tired and excessively deprived sailors in need of a good romp, by setting port where ever he heard tales of a decent tavern to send them romping to. That's what made so many of the pirates, not that there were that many left mind you, in the Caribbean all together less successful than they should be. There were some who's main purpose seemed to be destroying all they came across, ships, cargo, and people, hence leaving nothing to ransom or resell. Others claimed to be legal pirates. How does that work? All depends on whom you pillage and whom you give said pillages to. Not enough profit in that. Moreover, some even pirated on pirates! For the love of god, they got it all wrong there, might as well employ yourself to the bloody navy if you're into that sort of thing.  
  
For himself, Jack found a better mixture to be somewhere between smuggler and thief. Far better to get it and sell it rather then hoard it. Silly twit who ever thought up burying treasure, like a dog burying a bone you lose the map, you lose the treasure. Better to spend it while still alive and able to enjoy it, cause after all what was the average life span of a pirate?  
  
Huh. More often than not, the span was shorter then longer, and if longer, then the likelihood of losing pieces and forcing an early retirement grew better. Pegs legs and eye patches and all that, again, not a fond thought.  
  
Better to die outright then hobble around on a stump of wood til' the end of days. And on that happy note.  
  
"Back to the Pearl."  
  
"What?" Ana leaned closer and the neck line of her loose fitting shirt hung down at the front, and just at this angle if he lifted his head just a little and looked down..  
  
"To the Pearl." It wasn't a long look. Honest. "I'm going back to the Pearl."  
  
She sat up and balanced on her heels, contemplating the possibility of just such an endeavour. She didn't look all that confident. "No. You need to rest."  
  
His back felt cold with the damp soaking through his clothing and he could swear there were at least five creatures probing the possibility of making a new home in his braids, not to mention the others probing other places. Not prime resting conditions.  
  
"No?" He echoed her and propped himself up on his elbow while trying to think of what to say next. "I will for the simple fact that I am Captain of that ship and I said so." Maybe it lacked some of the finesse he could have slipped into it, but he got the point across.  
  
Or not.  
  
"One cough is far from a death sentence." He insisted against the onslaught of a fierce glare.  
  
"But it is reason to be cautious." Ana insisted.  
  
"Not reason enough." Jack insisted and turned his eyes towards Will, who thus far kept himself in the background. The look said it all and Will stepped forwards to offer a hand to help pull Jack back up to his feet.  
  
He didn't feel the same dizziness that sent him to the ground to begin with, but it threatened. Will stepped beside Jack in order to support the Pirate in staying upright. Having not asked, and thus not needing to thank, Jack accepted the assistance.  
  
Ana Maria placed herself on his other side, great confidence she had in his abilities to make a go of it on his own. Jack wrapped his arm up around her shoulder, and let his hand dangle just above her shoulder. Thus they marched back to the bon fire with Elizabeth holding the lantern and leading the way.  
  
Jack deliberately ran his fingers along the side of Ana Maria's throat. For a moment, he felt her neck muscles tense, but he kept his hand still and tried to be as un-deliberate in his deliberateness as possible. She relaxed a little, and he decided there was defiantly an advantage to being injured.  
  
No point in beating around the bush. wherever that expression came from. he leaned into her a little more and reached a little further.  
  
No reaction.  
  
Maybe that wasn't so good. If anything, he wanted a reaction of some kind; even a negative reaction, though preferably a positive one, but nonetheless having no reaction at all made him feel ignored. Jack Sparrow could never stand being ignored, unless he planned it that way. He could think of dozens of things to do that would catch Ana's attention immediately, however he very much doubted he'd survive to enjoy the aftermath of said activities.  
  
Of course he wasn't all that certain he was going to survive thinking of those activities either, seeing as while he occupied his thoughts with interesting and enlightening images of Ana Maria, a bush happened to grow exactly where the path should have been. Path. He stumbled over the shrub, looked a little more closely at the immediate surroundings, and noticed in particular the distinct lack of path.  
  
"Elizabeth?"  
  
The girl turned and looked at him curiously. "Are you alright, do you need to rest?"  
  
The whole let us all be concerned about the pirate thing was wearing somewhat thin. "Where you going to, luv?"  
  
She turned back to whatever she'd been following. "It's the path."  
  
"No, it isn't." Jack let go of Will and Ana and carefully sat down on a rotting log. Talking proved to be more difficult than general breathing at the moment, though only slightly.  
  
Elizabeth stared hard at the ground looking for a sign of what she thought she was following, but couldn't seem to find it. "Jack you're wrong, this IS the path." She couldn't be wrong in this. It just wasn't fair, it wasn't right, and it couldn't be happening.  
  
Ana sat down beside Jack, and bit her lip in an effort to keep from saying anything further. The urge to cuss the girl out ran strong, but it wouldn't do any good. "We'll head back the way we came and find it again, let's go."  
  
It didn't take long to find their way back, and this time Jack did pay attention. He paid attention to more then just following the overgrown rut in the mud though; he got the distinct feeling of being watched. Perhaps the game wasn't as over as he'd feared it might be.  
  
Weeds crept across the trail, and Jack missteped enough to send him falling into Will. All in all, he would have preferred landing on top his first mate, but she was altogether too observant to fall for this sort of ruse.  
  
Fall for it Will did, and from it too, as planned. Jack rolled and landed on his back. His friends gathered around him in a tight circle, worry evident in their eyes. A pang of guilt touched his heart, but he managed to mask it as an all too authentic grimace of pain. He coughed and struggled to sit up. Ana placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him down.  
  
"It's okay, Jack. It'll be okay." She whispered as she knelt at his side.  
  
He cleared his throat only half way to make his voice sound gravely and hoarse. "I need to get back to the Pearl." He insisted melodramatically.  
  
"We'll get you to the Pearl and you'll be okay." She turned to Will and Elizabeth. "Bring three men who aren't stumbling drunk and get back here as fast as you can."  
  
Jack groaned. "Go with them. They don't know the way." Ana looked about to panic, and Jack felt another stab of conscience. "I'll be alright until you get back. Not long, right?"  
  
She nodded but didn't move. "Will, can you do it?"  
  
Elizabeth looked indignant at not being trusted, but seeing as she already got them lost once... "We can do it."  
  
Will nodded his agreement. "We won't be long." He and Elizabeth hurried off along the path, the real path, with the lantern.  
  
There was a force out there bent on destroying every scheming plan he thought up after all. Bootstrap was out there still watching and he'd hoped that being on the edge of death and left alone in the dark would finally bring him out to talk. "There's still time, you could catch them. Make sure they don't get lost."  
  
In the dark, they couldn't see anything more then indistinct shapes, and Jack wished he could see her expression. The quiet coming off his first mate disturbed him. Then the quiet broke with a weird choking slurping sound, followed by a sniffle.  
  
No. Ana Maria couldn't be crying, she may be female, but she didn't cry.  
  
"I'm so sorry Jack. You're going to be okay."  
  
If he really were dying, her reassurances would probably scare him the rest of the way there. "I'm not dying."  
  
"It wasn't the hat."  
  
What? Did everyone around him eventually go mad, or was this just an exceptionally bad day for coherent thought? "Not the hat? The voodoo witch meant for something else to fall off?"  
  
"No. I've." She almost choked on the words. Jack considered making a remarkable recovery from this latest relapse to save her the trouble of pouring her heart out, but decided to hear her out. What could she be confessing to now?  
  
"Jack." She tried again and sniffed some more. "Have you ever considered the possibility of something more between us?"  
  
He coughed for real this time.  
  
"You're the only man who's never made me feel like something less." She took Jack's hand and entwined her fingers through his. Jack didn't move a muscle, afraid that if he moved she might start talking about hats again.  
  
"I want you to know, I feel more then friendship for you."  
  
This wasn't what Jack expected to be hearing. Maybe something about poisoning his food, or adding salt water to his rum, something alone those lines, not anything alone these lines. He always felt a degree of attraction towards Ana, but he assumed it was exclusively on his end of things. To learn that it might be something more than lust, it threw a whole new perspective on many things.  
  
"Ana." Jack whispered. "I think you should go find Elizabeth and Will."  
  
The lack of response to her emotional confession hit her like a physical blow. She felt like a fool and let go of his hand. "They might get lost. You'll be okay until I get back? Promise me, Jack."  
  
"I promise. Go find them."  
  
She stood up, and in the dim light of the moon picked her way back towards the bonfire.  
  
Jack didn't move. He could have, but he didn't. His mind reeled from Ana's words, did she really just tell him she wanted more then just friendship? Might have heard wrong. Possibly.  
  
But it sounded plain enough.  
  
"You're not dying, are you?"  
  
Jack's eyes snapped open at the sound of the voice. A condescending and suspicious voice he hadn't heard for ten years. "Bill."  
  
"Heard you're speech back there. Were you faking then too?"  
  
Jack pushed himself up and stared into the night. The shape of a figure stood a few feet off the path to his left. "No, I meant what I said. Bill, what's happened to you?"  
  
"I don't know. There are times I can't remember my own name, like a fog in my head."  
  
"But the lantern?"  
  
"It's what I've held onto, something real when everything else is hidden. Don't give up, but I'm not ready to come back yet. I'll find you when I am." Then he was gone.  
  
Jack lied back down in the mud, no longer caring if it felt damp, or what things might crawl along his skin. He finally got what he wanted, the plan worked and he found Bootstrap.  
  
But would he lose Ana Maria because of it?  
  
Authors note: HI! One more chapter left and we're done. Please review and let me know what you think so far? 


	9. The Bonfire

**Chapter Nine, The Bonfire**

The bonfire rose nearly five feet off the ground with two men tending it and the rest sitting around talking and joking.  It felt surreal to break out of the oppressive darkness of the trail onto the beach where the fire rose up into the sky lighting a good portion of the surrounding beach.  

Elizabeth took Will's hand and gripped it tightly.  After the experiences of the last twenty four hours neither of them were feeling entirely self confident, and the news they brought made their task all the more difficult.  Together they hurried towards the fire and the men lounging around it.  

"Jack needs help."  There might have been better way to say it, but at least Will now held the attention of every pirate on the beach.  "He couldn't make it back on his own.  Ana Maria fears it wont be long before…"  He cleared his throat against having to actually say the words he was thinking.  "He wants to go back to the Pearl."  

For a moment it seemed as though the message would be taken as a joke, but Gibbs stood up and stared inland as though he might be able to see what had happened there.  "Boy, the Captain was fine just an hour ago.  What are you saying happened?"

Elizabeth answered.  "Ana Maria thinks he may be bleeding on the inside; she thinks he could die."  

Gibbs paled.  "He's still alive now?"  

"Yes, we need three able men to help us bring him to the Pearl."  Elizabeth stepped a tad closer to Will as in unison, all the pirates rose to their feet.  Some weren't too steady, but they rose none the less.  "We only need three."  She insisted.

"And who would you chose Missy?"  Gibbs asked.  "At least this way it'll avoid us having to fight over it."  

That was how they met Ana Maria along the trail.  Elizabeth stared at Ana, who stared at Elizabeth, and Elizabeth couldn't help but think the worst.  "Is he…"

"No."  Ana waved a hand at the crew.  "What's this?"  

"They wouldn't stay behind."  Gibbs stepped up.  Having been the one to suggest the idea, he felt it only right to defend it.

"Fine."  Without another wasted second, she took the lantern from Elizabeth and dashed back down the trail towards her Captain, praying it wouldn't be too late.  

No one spoke as they trod along the path, and Elizabeth wondered what thoughts the pirates might be having.  Honestly, she never gave them credit for deep thought, and it seemed to her that their thoughts must consist of things like rigging, and sails, and drinking, existing only as a backdrop on the big picture that was the Black Pearl and Jack Sparrow.  However, how about now?  Without Jack Sparrow, where would that leave the crew?  Who would Captain the Pearl?  

In addition, did the crew care about their Captain as a person, or for the fortune, they stood to gain while working for him aboard the Pearl?  Did it even matter?  Ana's pace quickened even further as they neared the spot where they'd left Jack, and then she stopped.  

Elizabeth didn't stop as quickly and ended up ramming into Ana's back, and yet another pirate rammed into Elizabeth's back.  Along the procession, more pirates stumbled and tripped due to the sudden halt.  .  

A laugh broke through the grumbling.  

It was Jack.  Elizabeth tried to remember if this was where she and Will left him.  Though that didn't seem to matter much now though with Jack leaning against a tree and looking much better than he did a half hour earlier.  Too much better. 

Every muscle in Ana Maria's body tensed like a cat ready to spring.  "You're not dying?"  

"No, I'm not dying."  He answered.  

Neither was he completely recovered..  He still held an arm close against his side, he still looked pale, and breathed a bit too quickly, but he defiantly did not look to be on deaths door.  

The crew stood silent watched the tension rise between Jack and Ana Maria. The woman stood very still, and then stepped forwards very slowly.  Jack didn't move.  "This all a game to you."  She made the statement in horrified whisper.  "You allowed me to think the worst to draw Bootstrap out of hiding."

"I did."  

"And did it work?"  Her voice stayed dangerously neutral.

"No."  He still didn't move; even though he saw her body shift, saw her arm reach back in an arc.  He didn't even blink.  

She slapped him once before on the day he accepted her as one of his crew.  He deserved it that day, and he knew he deserved it now.  This time, however, she didn't slap him.  As her arm came towards his face, she balled her hand into a fist.  He might have had time to react, but he didn't, because he deserved this too.

The fist caught him just beside the ear, and it sent him down.  He heard rather than saw (due to the lights currently dancing in his vision) several of his crew move.  "I deserve that."  He laughed slightly to take the seriousness out of the incident and forced himself to get beyond the bells ringing and the lights swaying to push himself up again.  

Ana waited for him to face her.  "You owe me a boat."

"I do."  He agreed with her, and then turned to face the crew.  "What do you think you're looking at you scoundrels?  Not one of you here are as drunk as you ought to be!  Get back to the beach!"

They all just stared, all the drama and whatever was happening between their Captain and the first mate was far to interesting to abandon so easily.  "But the girl told us you'd be nearly dead sir.  We came to help get you back to the Pearl."  

"She forgot one important thing mate, I'm captain Jack Sparrow."  They simply stared at him in bewilderment.  Jack sighed and tried a different approach.  "Do I look dead?"

The question only served to confuse crew further, and their attention wavered to fix on Ana who suddenly took it in her head to march off the path and away into the dark.  With her gone, they turned back to their Captain.

"No sir, you don't look dead."  The words came from one of the younger pirates Jack acquired somewhere in Tortuga who'd been wagered and lost by his former master in a game of dice.  If Jack remembered correctly, and he wasn't entirely sure that he did, the boy had been apprenticed to a calligrapher.  

"Precisely.  Hence, as your astute observational talent has told you, this is precisely why we should all be headed back to the bonfire to finish what's left of the rum."  Jack pointed towards the path and watched his crew turn and head in the generally correct direction.  He made a mental note to count heads before setting sail in the morning so as not to lose anyone unintentionally.    

Or intentionally for that matter, and that was exactly what he feared Ana Maria might try to do.  Only he wouldn't be losing her, she'd be losing him.  So why did the thought make him feel so lost?

"Jack?"

While he'd been daydreaming, the last of his crew wandered off leaving Will, Elizabeth, and himself alone in the small clearing.  "Yeah?"

"Are you really okay?"  Will asked.

"I will be."

_Note:  Immeasurable thanks to jackfan2, beta-reader turned co-author.  I know I said this would be the last chapter, but there is one more chapter to go.  Thanks to all the wonderful reviews, keep letting me know if you're out there and how I'm doing, thanks!_


	10. When there is nothing left to say

_Dedicated to Julie. The beta-reader extraordinaire. (the good parts are her doing, the mistakes are my own)_ Chapter 10 

A dark cloud settled over the Black Pearl, making the crew edgy and the Captain even edgier.  Not a real dark cloud, (that would be spooky), but rather Ana Maria masquerading as a dark cloud, and that was far worse.  

The fact that Jack lived seemed to be a matter of much consternation to his first mate.  Not that he blamed her exactly… it was a heartless, down right mean, and well, bad thing to do.  Those were Elizabeth's words.  Well, not exactly, the girl possessed a talent to swear as colourfully and creatively as any of his crew.  The fact that he had trouble thinking of her doing so troubled him.

Nonetheless, she was right, and he deserved every dirty look Ana Maria tossed in his direction.  He estimated they'd reach Port Royal by nightfall, and from the position of the sun that left him only five hours to convince Ana Maria not to leave.  He stared at her from his perch on the gunwale.  

"Why don't you just tell her you're sorry?"  

Jack narrowed his eyes at Elizabeth, a look he intended to be threatening, but she laughed at the hollow threat.  "You think that'll work?"

"Not in a million years."  She replied just as airily.  "But I think you've got a chance if you're sincere.  Even if she doesn't accept your apology, she still deserves it."  

He drained the rum in his hand, and bent to pick up another.  He'd been like this since leaving the bay, rum drained one after another, and Elizabeth knew it had partly to be due to numbing some of the pain in his side.  She didn't see how anyone missed seeing that Jack was obviously still in pain, or maybe they did see it and that explained why no one approached him.  

They only dared to approach Ana Maria, and only reluctantly.  

"Jack, you have to do something."  Elizabeth insisted.  She was quickly losing patience with him, and just because she and Will stayed by his side after everything he did, didn't mean they forgave him yet.

"Right."  He agreed.  He stood up, swayed with the rocking of the ship, and headed directly towards his prey.  "Ana."  

Ana ignored him.

Not one to admit defeat so easily, Jack stepped closer.  "Ana.  We have to talk."  

This time, she walked past him and directly into his cabin.  He followed her and closed the door.  

"There's nothing you can say that I want to hear."  She stood beside his desk with her arms folded across her chest.  

He walked around the small space to place himself as close to her as possible.  If there was nothing he could say, then possibly he could do something.  He reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along her hair.  

She closed her eyes.  "No."  

He trailed his hand down her neck, and wrapped it around the bare skin at the top of her back.  She didn't pull away.  They stood face to face.  He said nothing, and she didn't open her eyes.  Slowly, and carefully, he leaned even closer and touched his lips to a spot by her ear.  He could feel her heart beat quicken as she moulded herself against his body.  

With her eyes still closed, she wrapped a hand around his shoulder.  She felt him flinch slightly as she moved against him, guiding him up onto the table.  He didn't resist, and if he felt any further discomfort from his injury, she didn't notice.  The moments passed like a dream.  The feeling of Jack's fingers exploring her skin drove out all other thoughts.  She wanted him, she intended to have him, and she would.

Time rolled.  For the both of them, the moment became everything, and it no longer mattered that another life existed outside the cabin.    It no longer mattered that Port Royal was only hours away, it didn't matter what happened the day before, or a week before, or a year before.  Now they were together, and the now became everything.    

At some point after the act, they moved from the table and onto his bunk where Ana Maria curled into his side.  Neither of them spoke, both afraid to break whatever spell they weaved.  Nevertheless, the life continuing outside the door refused to be ignored, and Port Royal drew closer with each breath.  Ana disentangled herself from Jacks arms pulled her clothes back on.  She wouldn't look at him; she didn't want to be reminded of all the reasons she should stay.  

The reasons to leave were what she needed to focus on now.

"We have some boat shopping to do."  Jack pushed himself up into a sitting position and watched her get ready to leave.  

"No we don't."

"I promised you a boat, I will get you a boat."  He insisted and hopped to his feet.  On came the britches, but he didn't bother with the shirt.  He picked up the rum instead and took a long drink before waving it through the air to emphasize his next sentence.  "I'm thinking something, sleek.  Something," He waved his other wrist in circles with the effort to find the correct wording.  "Something spicy."

"There is nothing you can give me that I will accept."

He stopped and aside from taking another drink, he didn't move.  

"You don't get it do you?"  She asked.  "The words I confessed to you when I thought your were dying, I meant them.  But you don't care who you step on to get your way, do you Jack?  I don't even think you do it intentionally.  You're a pirate Jack, through and through.  You've spent too long pirating and you don't know any other way, but it's not my way."  

He didn't stop her when she walked out.  He didn't stop her from collecting her possessions or counting out her portion of treasure in the hold.  He drank.  He sat at the table in his cabin staring blindly at a nautical map listing trade routes and other interesting bits of information, and drank as much rum as he could find.  

Once they were within rowing distance of Port Royal (but still hidden enough to avoid any unnecessary confrontations with the Navy), Jack came out of his cabin to say goodbye.  There was surprisingly little else to say.  In the past few days he managed to piss off and alienate just about everyone he claimed as a friend, and he knew it would be a long time coming to rebuild the trust he threw away.  If ever.  

Jack stood on the deck of the Pearl as they boarded the long boat that would take them to shore.  He stayed and watched as the little boat moved further and further away until it rounded the coast and disappeared from view.  This was it.  He played the game one too many times, and this time he lost.  

_Authors note_:  _This was another short chapter because Nine and Ten were supposed to be just one chapter, but the powers that be wouldn't let me work it that way.  Thanks to everyone who stuck with me and read till the end. _

_What did you think?  What chapter did you like the best or the least?  What was out of character, what would you improve?  Enquiring minds want to know!_

_Thanks to the reviewers: Vorbis, Karen1, FallenAngel26, Tuesday, Hollowambitions, Kingleby, Cal (I've loved your long reviews, they really make my day), Midnights Shadow, Blood Raven1, and TrappedandAnnoyed.  Thanks to everyone who reviews and lets me know how my writing is doing and everything along those lines. And to Jackfan2, my beta-reader._


	11. To be continued in new story

Hi everyone!  

You didn't think I'd leave Jack and Ana like that did you?  

The next story is up and on fanfic; I wanted to post a link just in case anyone might see this and not the new story, but it doesn't want to let me post a link.  Anyhow, it is called Best Intentions, and if you past the little bit below that is allowable on top of what is above, it might work.  On the other hand, you could click on my profile and find it under my list of stories.  That might be easier…  

?storyid=1538873

Thanks for reading this far!


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